Politics has overshadowed football on the eve of a Gulf football tournament after Saudi Arabia's team refused to talk to the press due to the presence of Qatar-based news channels, including Al Jazeera.

Foreign minister Geoffrey Onyeama said his country was approached by both sides to support them in the dispute. But it had decided that the blockade, now about to enter its fifth month, was ‘not the way to go’.

Israel on Wednesday backtracked from a decision to revoke the accreditation of an Al Jazeera journalist, saying he explained that comments he made last year did not amount to support for Palestinian violence.

The propaganda war being run by the blockading countries against Qatar has reached such an abysmal level that Dubai TV has aired a false report claiming anti-government demonstrations took place in Doha.